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June 2014 Articles

• Just Rambling, May 2014
Just Rambling, June 2014

(2 articles found)

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Just Rambling, May 2014

This Memorial Day—May 26th, 2014—greets a war-weary America scarred by over a decade of conflict, by a War on Terror now drawing rapidly to its close. The Iraq War concluded more than two years ago, and all combat operations in Afghanistan are set to end by Christmas. Troops are withdrawing, and our most central objectives have been achieved. Osama bin Laden is dead, the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been avenged, and both Iraq and Afghanistan now possess functioning, if fragile, democratic governments. The costs, though, have been perhaps too great: $2 trillion of taxpayer money ($4 to $6 trillion if one includes future medical care and disability payments to veterans), 6,717 young lives lost, and over 50,000 men and women wounded. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left a gaping hole in the American psyche, but the true burdens have been and will continue to be borne by the 2.2 million servicemen and women who volunteered for war after 9/11. They are the unsung 1% of society, the extent of their sacrifices either unacknowledged or misunderstood by most of us. We say never forget, and yet we forget. That is the American way.
For 13 long years, the U.S. has been at war, and yet how incredibly invisible these wars have been to the average American, myself included. This is nothing new. In 1932, 17,000 veterans of World War I, their wives and their children, descended on Washington in the Bonus March, seeking cash payment redemptions of their government-backed service certificates. President Hoover and General Douglas McArthur used the Army to violently disperse them, killing several veterans in the process. Then, in World War II, African-American soldiers were segregated from their white comrades, while the families of many Japanese-American warriors were placed in internment camps back home. Korea became “The Forgotten War” due to public indifference, and we have all heard of America’s disrespect towards its returning Vietnam veterans. History repeats itself. Nowadays, we hear little in the media about the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan or about the struggles of veterans returning home. Instead, celebrity gossip demands our attention, and political griping over the most infinitesimal of issues dominates our discourse. American civilians were not asked after 9/11 to sacrifice for the war effort, and so we did not. Life went on as it always had, and who could spare their time or thoughts? In short, America’s collective indifference to the plight of its veterans is a national disgrace.
And so, this Memorial Day, instead of simply grilling burgers and remembering our forefathers, we should all take a moment to recall the soldiers in our midst and the challenges they face today. According to statistics compiled by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families, 44% of post-deployment veterans have reported difficulties in adjusting to civilian life. Estimates suggest that 19.5 to 22.8% of veterans suffer from mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI), 4 to 20% suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 5 to 37% suffer from depression, and 4.7 to 39% report incidents of problematic alcohol abuse. Each of these numbers is startling, but the conditions often overlap, with many veterans reporting symptoms of all four. Today, the suicide rate amongst veterans is twice that of the civilian population, and it has been reported that more than 49,000 have taken their own lives since 2005. Indeed, the most recent shooting at Fort Hood, Texas on April 4, 2014 was initiated by a soldier undergoing psychiatric treatment of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. On top of these health problems is the unemployment rate amongst veterans—21.4% amongst 18-24 year-olds. To compound these problems, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been slow in providing veterans’ benefits—according to the Washington Post, the average wait time between filing a first claim and receiving benefits is 273 days. In major cities, veterans wait nearly twice as long—642 days in New York, 619 days in Los Angeles, 542 days in Chicago. These benefit delays have prompted national columnists like Joe Klein of TIME magazine to call for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. In an article titled, “Ten Years After: A National Disgrace,” Klein concludes that the VA has proven itself incapable of taking care of veterans’ most basic needs. Please read the article and prepare to be infuriated. Change only comes when angry citizens demand it, and the plight of our veterans needs to change drastically.
In conclusion, I believe it is our responsibility as concerned American citizens to see to it that our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are respected and provided for as they return home. In the last few days, I have been researching veterans’ organizations online. These organizations need support, they need donations, they need volunteers. The Wounded Warrior Project, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Team Red, White, and Blue—please take a moment this Memorial Day to research these organizations and consider donating your time and money to help our returning veterans. They deserve our never-ending appreciation, so let us make sure they get it. Let us truly honor our veterans on this Memorial Day, a real celebration of their lives and their sacrifices for us all. Cody Bennett

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